The present invention relates to a lighting device that is capable of being mounted on a dental or medical instrument for illuminating a treatment site. The present invention also relates to a dental or medical instrument having a lighting device for illuminating a treatment site.
Recent dental or medical instruments, such as handpieces of a straight or contra-angle type, are often provided with a lighting device for illuminating a treatment site. Such lighting device is integrated in a treatment unit, and is designed to guide light from a light source to the head of a handpiece through an optical fiber. The light guided through the optical fiber is then emitted from the distal end of the fiber located in the head to illuminate a treatment site.
In such a conventional lighting device for dental or medical instruments using an optical fiber for guiding the light from the light source, however, an optical fiber having a core made of a quartz material or a multi-component glass is often used, which is difficult to bend and dispose in a handpiece, in particular, of a contra-angle type. Such an optical fiber is also prone to cracks to cause serious attenuation of light, becoming unserviceable. An optical fiber having a core made of a polymer material (plastic material) is also used, which cannot withstand repeated autoclaving.
The light introduced into the optical fiber is usually a visible light, a white light, or light from a halogen lamp. However, use of such lights is disadvantageous since a light source of such lights is expensive.
The present invention aims to solve these problems in the conventional lighting devices. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a lighting device that is capable of illuminating a treatment site substantially without casting a shadow on the treatment site, while the energy consumption and the cost are minimized.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a lighting device that is easy to mount even on a dental or medical instrument of an angled type such as a contra-angle handpiece.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a lighting device that can withstand repeated autoclaving.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a dental or medical instrument having a lighting device that is capable of illuminating a treatment site substantially without casting a shadow on the site, while the energy consumption and the cost are minimized.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a dental or medical instrument having a lighting device that can withstand repeated autoclaving.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a dental or medical instrument having a lighting device that is easy to exchange when it is damaged.
According to the present invention, there is provided a lighting device for use with a dental or medical instrument having a tool in a distal part of said instrument for treatment of a site, said lighting device comprising:
a plurality of light emitting diodes, and
an LED holder encasing said plurality of light emitting diodes and capable of being mounted on a distal part of said instrument,
wherein said plurality of light emitting diodes are arranged so as to illuminate said site substantially without casting a shadow on said site in treatment when said LED holder is mounted on said instrument.
According to the present invention, there is also provided a dental or medical instrument comprising:
a tool in a distal part of said instrument for treatment of a site, and
a lighting device comprising:
a plurality of light emitting diodes, and
an LED holder encasing said plurality of light emitting diodes and provided in said distal part of said instrument,
wherein said plurality of light emitting diodes are arranged so as to illuminate said site substantially without casting a shadow on said site in treatment.